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Northcot House, winner of the 2020 ‘Best Brick Home’ category of the Build It Awards, is a modern self-build family home with the character and appearance of a Victorian farmhouse.
Located in the picturesque village of Pirton, Hertfordshire, owners Wayne and Nicky Turner, designed and project managed every detail, combining high specification modern materials with traditional craftsmanship in creative and innovative ways.
Many characteristics of historic buildings were subtly referenced, such as a discreetly bricked-in window at the front of the house – a feature commonly seen on old buildings as a way of avoiding the much hated ‘window tax’ of the eighteenth/nineteenth centuries! The front door was also designed in traditional dimensions: 1890mm high x 1100mm wide to look old.
Central to the house’s traditionally crafted appearance was a bespoke blend of imperial sized handmade bricks specially created by Northcot Brick.
Known as the Pirton blend, its subtle mix of rich rustic reds and oranges was lightly ‘tumbled’ to give a greater degree of variation and a softer look closer to genuine old reclaimed handmade bricks. At Northcot, we believe this is the first time that handmade bricks (being softer than machine made) have been tumbled to achieve this stunning effect!
The bricks were then laid in a traditional Flemish bond on lime mortar, with every square metre incorporating 6-7 dark plum brown snap headers – again mirroring the style of brickwork often found on old farm buildings.
The owners were so impressed with their new Victorian home, that they named their ‘dream home’ Northcot House after the brick manufacturer.
Nicky Turner said: “Northcot was the only manufacturer we could find which was able to make such a beautifully aged and characterful blend of bricks. We are delighted with the unique character that the Pirton blend adds to our home and the creativity and commitment shown by everyone at Northcot in helping us convert our vision into reality.”
To read more about this project please click here.
